Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is the only person in the land fairer than the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imageined was that the young woman who has escaped her clutches and now threatens her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman named Eric (Chris Hemsworth) who was dispatched to capture her.

Review

It’s true that ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ is not the first Snow White movie to come out this year—but there is absolutely nothing been-there-done-that about this dark, intense drama. It’s gorgeously shot and exquisitely FX-ed, from the supernatural battle scenes to the Evil Queen’s soul-sucking magic tricks. And it’s anchored by intense performances from Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth.

The plot actually hews fairly closely to the original ‘Snow White’ story: There’s a magic mirror, a poisoned apple, seven dwarfs, and even magical woodland creatures frolicking. But there are also a few key twists. The princess (Stewart) doesn’t just flee her stepmother, the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron)—she fights back. Of course, she has a little help from a buff huntsman who looks, and swings weapons, an awful lot like Thor (that would be Hemsworth, of course).

Stewart strikes a perfect balance playing a heroine who’s both innocent and fierce. Hemsworth, likewise, straddles the line between fearless and vulnerable. But as often happens in good-vs.-evil stories, the villain is the most compelling character…and Theron is totally transfixing as Ravenna. Though some of her lines are over-the-top, her formidable presence—and the amazing transformations she goes through—keep her character from coming off as campy.

This beautifully realized reimagining of the Snow White tale might seem like a huge departure from the Disney animated classic—or from this year’s light-hearted ‘Mirror Mirror,’ for that matter. But with its embrace of all that is dark, scary and disturbing in fairy tales, ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ might be the truest to the original story of them all.